The Past is Not Dead
by ChrisMcLean-Cody-Duncan-TD
Summary: "You wrecked everything you ever had. Everything you've ever had, you've destroyed. You keep thinking there's some sort of future for you, don't you? That there's some way out of this place, that you can escape everything."


Duncan was one of those people who liked rain more than he liked sunshine – maybe it was because Duncan, as Courtney described him, 'was a natural pessimist', or maybe he thought it was a way to sit in all day and not have to do much. But maybe, and Geoff probably thought this was the best theory, it was because he got to see Courtney. She lived next door –and it was hard to tell if he enjoyed her company or if he didn't.

The day would always start with Duncan lying on his couch, watching two year re-runs of Total Drama: World Tour. He'd laugh at the parts where Gwen would come up and heavily sigh when Courtney came on. He would just stare at the parts when he'd come on and then there'd be the same knock at the door every single rainy day. It was nearly musical, it was quite soft, but loud enough you could hear it over Chris McLean.

She'd walk in, because Duncan always kept the door open. He didn't see the point locking it, because honestly he had nothing to steal. She would never walk into the room – she'd stand angrily in the doorway.

"Turn it down!" Courtney would shout at him angrily. "I'm sorting out papers for a case and you're TV show isn't helping!" Then she'd always look up and it would be Total Drama World Tour. Duncan knew that Courtney had a small part of sympathy for him because he had never succeeded in _anything_. Courtney had actually turned out successful; his only claim to fame was dumping both Courtney and Gwen. He worked as a waiter in a small, unknown café, and that was only because Courtney had kept bothering him to get a job.

"You've got to stop watching this, Duncan," Courtney would then complain.

" _We should've just gone left, we wouldn't be in this mess, I said so too but then Gwen used Cody's EpiPen, now if he gets bitten, my obituaries written, oohh what would I do then?"_

"Duncan!"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. That song is the best," Duncan would laugh, waiting for the typical 'I was there, you weren't, shut the hell up, Duncan'.

But this wasn't a normal rainy day. Everything started normally, but when it got to the part Duncan sang the Gypsy Rap, Courtney just sighed. Duncan was shocked when she didn't reply.

"Umm…Courtney?" She was staring at the ground, looking as if she was in her own world. Duncan tried to comprehend if it was something he'd done. As much as he hated her, she had got him his job. He would have probably been thrown out of his house and hungry if it wasn't for her.

"Oh. Sorry, Duncan. I kinda spaced out there, didn't I?" she half-heartedly smiled at him. One of those moments you laugh to stop yourself from crying. You smile to stop yourself from breaking down.

"Yeah. Yeah, you did," he replied, trying to laugh at her but failing so it sounded more like a weird Santa Claus being strangled. Which was what his fake laugh sounded like – it wasn't cool or even remotely normal, which was what you hoped for at times like this. But then again, this wasn't really something that happened often.

"Oh. I was just thinking about something – something about the case I'm doing. I mean, it's weird, but it's not, like a weird case, you know? It brings back too many nightmares."

"What is it?" he asked, but he wasn't really interested at all. He was watching the ninth episode, an episode where Sierra and Cody just kept fighting – not like he ever liked Cody, because he thought he was an annoying midget. Sierra wasn't great – an annoying stalker who had pretty much documented all of his relationships, but an episode was an episode to him.

"Did you watch Total Drama Presents the Ridonculous Race?" Courtney asked him. It had finished only a few months ago and had got pretty rave reviews.

"No," Duncan replied, as if it was obvious. After All-Stars, Duncan made sure he never watched a show with Chris, or his younger brother Don. He only watched re-runs, and that was only because he always wondered what they actually put on the show. He didn't like both the hosts and was more of a person that liked hosts that made sure their contestants didn't die or become unconscious.

She sighed again in a way that suggested to Duncan that he probably should have watched it.

"Have you read the newspapers _at all_ in the past week?" she asked, visibly annoyed.

"No. That's why we've got phones and stuff, isn't it?" he told her, picking his phone up off the small coffee table cluttered with cans and plates which he had never bothered to throw out or wash. "Phones are better than paper, right? No chopping down trees or whatever."

"Okay, back with the story. Don got sued – the host? And I'm in charge of his case. He got sued for something to do with not paying for the contestants planes. Which sucks, I guess, but now thinking about it," she commented, looking at the small television Duncan owned, "he was better than Chris. At least they didn't have to all get the same plane."

"At least the planes didn't crash," Duncan added, his eyes still focused on Cody and Sierra, trying to act as if he didn't care about it.

Which, to a point, he _didn't._ His life was already wrecked – what was the point of watching Chris McLean and his younger brother on television, unless you're involved or on it? It wasn't going to make it better. It was just going to make it worse. He knew that nearly every contestant (except Sierra) had tried to forget anything that had ever happened to them on that show, because it's just what people _do_. You remember the great things, you try and block out all the horrible things.

"I miss the show," Courtney suddenly outburst. For a moment, he tried to forget what she said, but it only takes him a few seconds to turn around a give her that what-the-hell-are-you-thinking look.

"It wrecked my life," he muttered under his breath.

"It didn't. You wrecked your life, Duncan. This is where you ended up. You could have been something. Look at Geoff – he's a pretty successful presenter, right?"

"That wasn't an option for me. Do you not… _realise_ that after what I did I couldn't have been nothing more than that criminal kid who was sent to prison for blowing up that stupid 'cottage' in All-Stars? I wouldn't have been able to do anything in my future because of what I did in the past. Have you not realised by now that every time I apply for a job I get turned down because of my criminal record?"

"That was your fault!" Courtney shouted angrily. "Stop acting as if you're depressed or everyone's been so hard on you, because they haven't! _You_ did all of this, and then when no one wants you, you think they're idiots? You know why everyone else did something with their lives? They actually wanted to. They didn't want to end up like total failures like this."

"Get. Out. Of. My. Apartment." Duncan growled at her angrily, standing up and looking at her.

"You've no future," she hissed. "You wrecked everything you ever had. Everything you've ever had, you've destroyed. You keep thinking there's some sort of future for you, don't you? That there's some way out of this place, that you can escape everything." She stared at the TV once more before saying, "You can't escape. There's no future – because the past is never dead. It's not even past. You're going to live this nightmare for ever, Duncan. You're going to live this nightmare until you slip away from this world. And I say this world only because you can't slip away from reality," she said as she stood at the door to leave. "Goodbye, Duncan. You could've been something, but then again, what could anyone expect from you? I'm moving away in a few weeks and I hope that I'll never have to be near you presence again."

"I hope you die a painful death, Courtney, and Gwen was always hotter than you. _Always_ ," he said politely as he slammed the door on her face and slowly sunk back into his normal position on the couch. He turned the TV off and stared into open space for a moment.

* * *

About two months later, Courtney had won her case that he didn't have to pay for the flights because' the production team should've taken care of that originally'. Duncan got his last text from her ever:

 _ **I used to love you. Like hell.**_

 _ **I'm really freaking happy you dumped me.**_

 _ **You were an absolute monster to me and her.**_

 _ **No wonder she never loved you.**_

 _ **No wonder she never let you have custody of your kid.**_

 _ **I never loved you. I bet no one ever loved you.**_

 _ **I'm sorry for you.**_

 _ **-C**_

Courtney was never heard of again. Some people said she moved away and changed her name. Some people she said just didn't like being a lawyer anymore and got into medicine instead. Duncan just has one thought – she tried to run away from reality.

All because of that one rainy day.

* * *

 **A/N – I needed to publish something, so I thought this was a pretty good way to do it. Just a random one-shot. So, yeah, I'm still alive! Just haven't had time to write anything recently.**


End file.
